Rose-tinted Dreams
by C.M. Goldink
Summary: [Collection of linear flash fiction chapters] Bella and Rosalie may be on the opposite sides in the social hierarchy of high school, but the two of them do share something in common. This commonality will ultimately lead them to the bond they both so desire, but will it be enough to keep them together in the end? Or will their different views on life be too much of a test? Human AU
1. My Beautiful Stalker

Title: _My Beautiful Stalker_

Last night I dreamt I was with Rosalie Lillian Hale again.

This is the third night this week that my brain has focused on her for the entirety of my slumber.

I want it to stop. I _don't_ want it to stop. I care to know why. I don't _care_ to know why.

I crave her touch. I... _really_ crave her touch.

I need a cure for this desire.

Rosalie is the most popular person at Forks High School, and I don't say this to be stereotypical. Her looks have the type of features that the girls at school would pay thousands of dollars for in hopeless surgeries, and her skill at mechanical work has the guys at school hovering around her like love-struck pups. In either case there isn't anyone who can match up to her level of beauty and talent. I suppose it also doesn't hurt that she has enough money to buy her own home on the wealthier side of the neighborhood.

None of these are the reasons my shy heart stutters for her though.

While everyone else whispers about her refined features and gifted handiness, my admiration stems from the fact that she doesn't seem to have any real friends. A strange thing to admire, I know. However, it's the truth. She and I seem to share an affinity when it comes to this lack of bonds, and I have a high regard for her as a result.

To see the most well-known girl pass though life without a single trusted person holds a tale of hope for those of us whose lives have been trailed by disappointments of insincere people and their dishonest actions.

The school library is as quiet as an abandoned cemetery, like always. No surprise. Students don't come in to read books for pleasure, only for research...sometimes. That's their problem though. Their lost, my gain. Book lovers like me prefer the heavy silence in this structured sanctuary, alone and at peace with novels.

Relaxed, I'm sitting in my favorite corner with a faded book held between my hands. The American and British classics are the best at feeding my appetite for an escape into my imagination. Life is, for a lack of better words, _a bitch_ at the moment... and I have no interest in returning back to reality. Can you blame me?

My breath drifts out in a lingering sigh. "Just one more year, and you'll be free to leave this small, dull, close-minded town." _One more year..._

Junior year is almost at an end, meaning that all I need to do is make it through senior year. Once I do, I'm going to head to the most liberal and open-minded university in the country. I'm not sure where that college is, probably somewhere in California, but I'm going to move there regardless. The need to get away and be able to fully express my true self is too strong to ignore. Maybe I'll finally meet a girl who'll turn my life around in the process with just a gorgeous smile. I wonder what she'll look like or be like... funny, kind, generous... beautiful, inside and out... with vivid eyes that sets me aflame by a quick glance.

"Excuse me? Could you possibly help me find this book I need?"

Startling awake from my daydream, I look away from the book still clasped in my hands. Instantly, tension springs up in my spine like a coiled spring ready to burst. _No way. Impossible. Is this really happening? How? Why?_

Rosalie Hale stands in front of me, towering really, like the Greek goddess Aphrodite. You know, if the goddess wore a mini-skirt. She blinks and raises an eyebrow, an unsure expression slowly creeping up onto her face. "Or... not?"

It takes me a moment to realize that she had asked something of me. Feeling blood rush up my neck in a blush, I give an apologetic cough. "Um, sorry about that. I, uh, was in a bit of a daydream. Wha-what did you need again?" _Nice work there on the zero stutters, dummy._

"Well," she says, looking around at the many bookshelves. "I was wondering if you could help me find a specific book that I'm looking for. I know you don't work here, but I've seen you come in here a lot so I figured-" She stops herself mid-sentence as her composed face takes on a more embarrassed look. "That made me sound like a stalker, didn't it?"

 _She notices me? And actually knows about me? Holy...wow._

"Yeah, but I don't mind if _you_ do it." _Welp... Way to dig your own grave, Swan. Want to jump in it too?_

Shocked at my bold response, Rosalie snorts before bursting out in a melody of giggles. The sweet sounds rapidly send my heart tingling. Exposing her vibrant white teeth for a split second, she covers her mouth behind a slender hand and shakes her head until the giggles gradually fade away. There's brightness to her eyes now, a glow that emphasizes the lovely cerulean of her irises. The things I would do to always see that glow is... endless.

She soon states under her breath, "That was one of the best replies I've ever heard. Thanks for that."

Knowing that I was the cause of such an important moment pleases me more than she could ever know.

A smile stuck permanently on my lips, I chuckle in a mixture of relief and joy. "Anytime. I'm happy to be of service. Oh, by the way, my name is Isabella, but most people just call me Bella." _Or Bella the Bookworm and Lesbella, depending on who you ask..._

Rosalie holds her hand out, giving me a good-natured grin in return. "Rosalie, but _you_ can call me Rose. Sounds good?"

"Definitely," I answer with an eager nod. At the same time, my hand reaches for her extended one and grabs it; almost immediately I feel the hard calluses from her manual labor alongside the soft skin of her natural splendor. It might be my hormones and adrenaline rushing, but I swear I feel sparks run up my arm in a flash like lightning.

Overwhelmed, a sweeping desire to kiss the back of her hand with complete reverence echoes encouragement in the back of my mind. However, I know doing so would most likely just scare her away and get me labeled as a "freak" by the one person in this world whose opinions I _do_ care about.

A cowardly move then.

Quickly shaking her hand, I soon let it go in reluctance. "Let's go find that book for you then, 'kay?"


	2. Crossing the Line

Title: _Crossing the Line_

Minutes flow by in comfortable silence as Bella and Rosalie navigate together through the maze of old bookshelves, talking and laughing the entire time. They stop every couple of minutes to scan the contents of a particular shelf, realize that what they're looking for isn't there, before moving on to the next. Their footsteps completely muffled by the thick carpeting, they lower their voice to accommodate the surrounding quietness until their conversation becomes a collection of gentle murmurs.

Blending into the background, they fall into a state of unexpected ease with one another. It's almost unfeasible for them to stop giggling at each other's silly antics as they search for the missing book.

"Now you're just trying to be funny," Rosalie says, rolling her eyes with playful exaggeration. "Why would it be there? Did it manage to crawl its way underneath?"

Bella groans in frustration before standing up from where she was looking under one of the dusty shelves. Wiping her hands and knees free of any clinging grime, she turns towards her smirking companion.

Arms crossed with a serious expression, she huffs before stating to her disbeliever, "You know... books do have a mind of their own. Sometimes they like to hide in places where you would never suspect. Didn't you know that?"

Rosalie arches a curved eyebrow.

Bella shrugs. "What? It's true. I have stories with plenty of evidence. Do you need proof?"

"Evidence? Really? Is it seriously that-"

The loud ring of the warning bell echoes from the main hallway, interrupting Rosalie's line of sarcastic questions.

As if by habit, Bella's head whips around to the direction of the library doors, making her loose-fitting glasses fall from the bridge of her nose. She soon hears them clatter against a shelf before landing somewhere on the soft carpet, but her vision is too blurry to spot them. Embarrassed, she quickly crouches down to feel along the ground in fruitless searching.

"Looking for these?" Rosalie asks with a mischievous tone. She slides the thin handles onto Bella's reddened ears and winks as the frazzled girl stares up at her. The two are so close that Bella catches a hint of Rosalie's exquisite perfume. She swoons slightly at the florid aroma that wafts over her nostrils. The smell almost seems like it should belong to Rosalie; as if it was meant to match her in a way that no other fragrance would. It was alluring, and enticing, and attractive, and...

"Hello, earth to Bella? Did you hear what I said?" Rosalie taps on the middle of Bella's forehead with a French manicured nail before waving her hand in front of her spaced-out face.

"What did you just say?" Bella mumbles. She's still too dazed by her proximity to the sweet-smelling, literal girl of her dreams. Her eyes wandering, they freeze for a second on the sliver of cleavage exposed at the top of Rosalie's unbuttoned shirt before flicking down to the floor. Shame promptly burns in the pit of her stomach at the action.

"I _said_ that we should probably get going," Rosalie whispers meaningfully. Hesitant, her hand moves forward to cup Bella's chin, gently raising the girl's head until their eyes are locked. A knowing look paints over the blonde girl's expression. "It's time for lunch."

Heart pounding away inside her chest, Bella chokes on her words for a moment. Eventually, she manages to say, "Oh, yeah, um...okay, let's go."

x-x-x

Their walk back to the cafeteria is a major test of wills. Subtly watched by the other students whose eyes widen at the sight of the two of them together, the growth in stares signal that a monumental event is taking place. Bella gulps, knowing the truth. She and Rosalie aren't even supposed to be near each other, let alone talk as if they were the best of friends. It defies the system set in place by small town living. In particular...

It is high school rules, no, _Forks High School rules_.

This doesn't seem to matter to Rosalie however. She's as calm and regal as a sovereign queen; far above the pointless gossip whispered among the court and commoners of their classmates, she pays them no mind. On the other hand Bella, who over the past three years had worked up awareness for this type of scrutiny, is almost near a full-blown panic attack by the attention suddenly focused on her.

Rosalie breaks the silence between them. "Hey, Bella, who do you usually sit with at lunch?"

"Uh, nobody really," Bella replies, a slight frown pulling down the corners of her mouth. "Why?"

"Just curious." Rosalie stops right outside the cafeteria's double doors, turning around to face Bella with a warm and inviting smile. "Do you want to come and sit with me then?"

Bella isn't sure what to say. She never would have believed that Rosalie Lillian Hale would ask to sit with her during lunch, or any other time for that matter. Just thinking about it makes a ball of discomfort clench tight inside her stomach and yet...

Looking up in Rosalie's eyes and seeing the subtle hope glimmered there in the cerulean waves, Bella can't figure out why she would tell her "no" in the first place.

"Yeah, sure," she said without another moment's hesitation. "Why not? It isn't like I have better places to sit."

"Great," Rosalie chirps. She pushes open one of the doors and gazes expectantly at Bella. "After you."

And that's it.

This is the moment where their relationship as people never to know each other comes to an official end. From now on, they would relieve the loneliness and feelings of being an outcast by spending time with each other. Nothing would stand in their way. Not even their fellow students who glared from the sidelines. Nothing and nobody. It's an impossible dream coming true for once.

Bella feels her spirit begin to soar at the realization until four devastating words assaults her ears.

"Hey, Rosie! Who's this?"


End file.
